- A former member of the House of Representatives, Bamidele Faparusi, has saluted the judiciary for freeing suspects connected with the murder of Chief Omolafe Aderiye

- The suspects were standing trial for the murder of Aderiye who was the former chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW)

- Faparusi said that the accused were implicated to face criminal prosecution and go to jail by the government of Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state

A former member of the House of Representatives, Bamidele Faparusi, has commended the judiciary for freeing suspects standing trial for the murder of the former chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Chief Omolafe Aderiye.

The suspects who are members of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti state include Adebayo Aderiye, Adeniyi Adedipe, Sola Durodola, Kayode Ajayi, Oso Farotimi, Sola Adenijo and Rotimi Olanbiwonnu, Punch reports.

Legit.ng gathered that Aderiye, an ally of Governor Ayodele Fayose, was killed on September 25, 2014 in the Ijigbo area of Ado-Ekiti.

It was learnt that the trial judge, Justice Lekan Ogunmoye, held that the prosecution failed to prove the complicity of the accused persons in the murder of Aderiye.

In his reaction to the judgment on Tuesday, January 30, Faparusi called on the inspector-general of police, Ibrahim Idris, to re-investigate the matter to find the killers.

He said: “It is no longer news that the accused persons were implicated to face criminal prosecution and probably go to jail by the government of Fayose just to get them out of circulation because of their enormous political relevance in Ekiti.

“There were revelations that some aides of the governor forced the police to change the original statements of these innocent people and replaced them with ones that were implicating; that was a nefarious and criminal act that must be investigated by the police and the DSS.

“Let me state clearly that the matter shouldn’t be allowed to end here, I advise those implicated to proceed to court to get justice.

“Nigeria is operating a constitutional democracy which places high premium on the sanctity of human lives and Aderiye’s death must not be allowed to go the way of the late Chief Bola Ige, Chief Harry Marshall and other politically-motivated killings in Nigeria."

The special assistant to Governor Ayodele Fayose, Lere Olayinka, however, advised Faparusi to mind his business and leave the police to do their work.

He said: “If he is looking for a cheap political leverage, he should look elsewhere because we are in government for a serious business. Faparusi is not the police and he is certainly not the court, so what is his fuss?"